by DAVID WILLIAMS JR. for the Evangelical Covenant Church
This, then, is how you should pray: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. —MATTHEW 6:9-14, NIV
INTRODUCTION Back when Christian education took place on Sunday morning before the 11 o’clock service, I attended Sunday school where we learned the words of Jesus through Bible catechisms and committed to memory the Lord’s Prayer. Every night before I went to bed, God’s Spirit was invited into my bedroom through reciting this prayer. Throughout the night, heaven was on standby so that if I died before sunrise, I was committed to the Father of all creation.
How often, when words are few and troubles loom large, have adults reached back in their memory to this particular prayer and found comfort for the soul and rest from their weariness? In reflecting on these few verses, Jesus himself says, “When you pray, this is what your prayers should sound like.”
THROUGHOUT SCRIPTURE INDIVIDUALS HAVE PRAYED UNDER A RANGE OF CIRCUMSTANCES.
A. Isaac prayed for his wife, Rebekah, to become pregnant (GENESIS 25:21).
B. Moses prayed for God to take away the snakes (NUMBERS 21:7).
C. Hezekiah prayed for direction (2 KINGS 20:2).
D. Nehemiah prayed for architectural plans to rebuild a city (NEHEMIAH 2:4).
E. Daniel prayed three times a day in thanksgiving to God’s faithfulness (DANIEL 6:10).
F. David prayed for the peace of Jerusalem (PSALM 122:6).
G. At age 84 Anna prayed to behold the Messiah (LUKE 2:36-37).
H. Two men went up to the temple to pray—one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector—and the second one was heard by God (LUKE 18:14).
I. St. Paul the apostle prays for a successful evangelistic campaign (COLOSSIANS 4:3).
J. John the beloved prayed for good health and wellbeing (3 JOHN 2).
K. Jesus admonishes the church to pray for their enemies (MATTHEW 5:44). Throughout the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, prayer is constantly in use.
WHY PRAY?
A. Prayer is acknowledging that there is a God in the invisible, spiritual world who affects the physical and visible world.
B. The soul longs to have conversation with its Creator.
C. At a subconscious level too often we do not trust God to hold up his end of the bargain. When our eyes bear witness to the tragedies and atrocities that happen daily around us, we wonder, “What, if anything, is God doing?”
WHY DO WE PRAY FOR OUR NEEDS?
It certainly isn’t to inform God of something he does not know. In prayer we conform to God’s perfect will about things that weigh heavy on our hearts and minds. We submit to God our concerns and wishes and seek his input before we press our way forward. Prayer in its simplest form is an exchange of confidence in the God of the universe. We bring our prayers to God because we believe he will fulfill his word, “Ask, and ye shall receive.”
Does God really know and care about our needs? Yes. The dialogue between God and his people in this text is a personal conversation. God’s knowledge of the needs of his people is taken as an encouragement to pray, not as a reason to refrain from praying. We ask, “Give us this day our daily bread.” This dynamic prayer reminds us of three movements of God happening in every prayer. God’s provinces—reigns between heaven and earth borders , God’s provision—daily bread is unlimited, God’s protection—in a world of sin and evil
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. —EPHESIANS 6:18
All kinds of prayers are directed to God for all kinds of needs from all kinds of people. God wants it that way. So let’s keep on praying, and praying, and praying.